"The ends you serve that are selfish will take you no further than yourself; but the ends you serve that are for all, in common, will take you into eternity" - Marcus Garvey

“Young, Impressionable and in Prison”

Young, impressionable and in prison. Three descriptive qualities which can be used to characterize the multitude in the penal system. For some this is their first time being locked up, while there are those that have been through these gates several times in a cycle call recidivism. I, at twenty-two years old, fit this niche in society. My crimes have gotten me to this point in my young life, as well as the crimes of my juvenile past. I was a ward of the state through the Department of Juvenile Justice and am now one through the Department of Correction.Now, I could go on a rant about the injustices I’ve suffered at the hands of my warders, and about the lack of effort to provide rehabilitative services on the part of the courts, but I won’t because I was raised to not “pass the buck”, but instead to, “buck-up” and own my life and the decisions I’ve made. In reality, I did it to myself and in order for me to gain anything positive from this experience (however agonizing and uncomfortable) I must first realize that just as I made the decision to commit the offence, I must put forward even a greater effort to better myself. I refuse to be in-and-out of these facilities for the better part of my life.[Asad]